By Mataeliga Pio Sioa
Peace on earth and goodwill to all men!
Behind these words is the Christmas message to herald the holy birth of Baby Jesus this week on Friday.
The message is repeated over and over again as if it is a cleansing ritual the Christian world must immerse in to be worthy of the blessed occasion.
Samoa is ‘Founded on God’ so we are part of the cleanup exercise. Do we need it?
There are no wars raging in Apia or out there in Salelologa so in the physical sense we are at peace.
On the moral side we are a country deeply divided by politics so in that sense we are not at peace.
Good luck trying to slot goodwill in there somewhere.
Goodwill has nothing to do with the Minister of Justice on a warpath stampede to stop the swearing in of the Lands and Titles Court judges last Friday.
One of the judges is the former Electoral Commissioner.
He is a hot item on the hate list for the other side of the political divide. His rise in the Judiciary ranks has obviously brought no peace to the Justice Minister.
Maybe she does have ‘goodwill to all men’ but not this particular one.
The feeling is similar with the Speaker of the House but with just a slight gender variation.
His lack of peace and goodwill is at this 10% seating requirement for women in Parliament.
The poor women have been in a tireless yo yo dance in and out court since the April general elections.
Going into 2022 they will definitely be swaying to the legal tune once again.
These are HRPP ladies involved so that basically spells it out with the FAST party in power.
With only a few days left, Baby Jesus, is certain to be born into a Samoa that is not at peace nor is it any goodwill mood.
The cleansing, if any, is yet to produce any rays of Christmas hope.
We can be sad or angry about it but ‘it is what it is’ or is it not? Is there a way we could get out and mend our divisions?
The former Prime Minister and HRPP leader Tuilaepa is the only one so far to offer a logical way forward to bring some respite to the political divide.
He suggested to the Speaker during Parliament that in the Christmas spirit of ‘peace and goodwill’, allow the women candidates to be sworn-in.
He felt it will open up a healing pathway that will inspire the country to build towards reconciliation.
Our Judiciary has been under heavy flak from both sides since the general elections fallout, surely they must be weary of being made a ‘bulls-eye’ for the politicians.
The judges will welcome some peace and goodwill going into the New Year.
Religious leadership is heavily tainted by political sway and they too will want to start 2022 with the hopes and blessings of peace and goodwill to the unsettled flock.
The goodwill gesture will surely not be lost in the hopeful eyes of the watching country in need of some quiet down time.
What the former PM suggested to restore peace and goodwill makes a lot of good simple sense.
The controversial sparking point about allowing the two women into Parliament is a good example.
It is not as if the two ladies will overturn the FAST majority rule.
All this legalese thrown around by the Speaker to keep the women out is just gibberish nonsense.
If the men winners of the by-elections are allowed to be sworn-in with court petitions looming against them, why is that any different for the women MPs?
The Minister of Justice’s vindictive rampage against the judges of the Lands and Titles Court extends the range of firepower against a Judiciary that must be bone tired of being turned into a political punching bag.
We all need a break as a country from these divisive politics. Someone or somehow it has to start somewhere.
There is a Chinese saying that sums it up well. “A journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step.”
FAST stands to win big if they are seen to take that step into the restoration of peace and goodwill to the country.
Prime Minister Fiame should take that up seriously going into the New Year.
Tuilaepa is ready to move along so Fiame should build from there.
Our politics has become tedious and we are all starting to tire of it.
The best gift for us this Christmas is to find ‘peace in Samoa and goodwill to all Samoans’
Lets all try and enjoy the season of blessings.